Realm of Spirit
by Liz Jade Skywalker
Summary: Spirits of old Jedi are being forced to return to the living world at random. Not really humor, just sort of whimsy.
1. New Arrivals

He sat up, cautiously, wondering what in the name of the Force had happened

He sat up, cautiously, wondering what in the name of the Force had happened. His head was spinning, and everything felt . . . different. The Force felt different. It no longer surrounded him the way it had for the past . . . how many years? He couldn't remember. Ever since he had died, the Force had been like a blanket closer than his flesh, not just in his mind, the way it was in life, but in his incorporeal body. Wait, that was what it felt like, life! He stared at his hand. It was there, whole. He couldn't understand. It hadn't been when he died! It had been metal for decades. Wait a minute! He touched his face. It felt . . . young. No lines, no scars, the smoothness of youth. He frowned. 

Someone had said something to him about this, once. A while after he had joined the ranks of the spectral Jedi in the Realm of Spirit, he'd been conversing with another spirit, one who'd been there for centuries. She'd said that every now and then, spirits would be torn out of the Realm of Spirit, and flung back into the Realm of Flesh. But wouldn't he have been flung out at the age he died? He stopped to reconsider. 'Be grateful for small favors, man!' he reproved himself. 'If you're young and strong, you have a better chance of . . .'

Of what? He realized he had to stop and take stock. He was dressed, thank the Force. He was wearing the tan tunic and trousers of the Jedi, and tall black boots. His lightsaber hung from his belt, but . . . 

'Oh great!' He realized he had neither money nor ID. 'Wonderful.'

Now what was he to do?

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"Obi-Wan?" Luke frowned slightly at the apparition that had just appeared in his dream. "I thought you said you wouldn't be able to come back."

"Normally, I wouldn't have," his old master replied. "This is a bit of an emergency, and there's a lot of others here lending their power so I can come. You see, the Force loves to play tricks. The Realm of Spirit, the one I inhabit right now, is a favorite target of these tricks. What's happening right now is that the spirits are getting turned back out into the Realm of Flesh—the one you're in—completely at random. No money, no identification, and, for most of them, no idea where or even when they are. It's hard to keep track of time in this Realm. We need someone on this side to try and track them down, find them, and help them.

Luke noticed that as Obi-Wan spoke, there was a tugging appearance, a streaking, like he was being pulled towards something. 

"Try and find them, Luke. They need your help." With that, whatever was pulling on Kenobi succeeded and he popped out of Luke's dream.

Luke now found himself unable to sleep. 'Spirits popping into the world at random? I wonder . . .'

"Luke?" Mara's sleepy voice next to him startled him slightly. "Luke, what was that all about? I think a bit of some dream you were having bled over to me."

"Yeah, I get the feeling like you were supposed to hear it too." Luke said, then explained the situation.

She frowned, seeing something he hadn't. "What if it's not just Jedi that are popping out? What if Sith are too?"

"I think Ben would have told me," Luke replied thoughtfully. "Still, I don't know. He might have been going to before he disappeared."

"Worry about it in the morning, Farmboy. I for one am going back to sleep."

"Good idea," Luke replied. "I think I'll join you."

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He stared around him. Where was he? From the look of things . . . either Nar Shaddaa or the lower levels of Coruscant. 

Probably Coruscant, he decided. Now, down to business. His stomach rumbled, and he realized he was pretty hungry. 'Great, so I'm hungry,' he thought. 'What's going to happen next?'

Then he had a thought. If he was thrown out here, maybe others were nearby. He stretched out with the Force, searching for familiar presences. His face split into a grin. There was that presence…

//Hullo Obi-Wan.//

//Hey, you got dropped here too?//

//Yup, 'fraid so. Did you get through?//

//You mean to my contact?//

//Yeah.//

//I did, and got time to warn him.//

//Still not going to tell me who he is?//

//Nope.//

//Why not?//

//I have too much of a sense of humor.//

//Geez. You're nice.//

//Aren't I though?//

//No.//

//Where are you?//

'Umm . . .' He looked around. //It looks like a trash heap, but somehow I don't think that'll help much.//

//No, it doesn't, but you sound close.//

//Good.//

After a little while longer, the two ex-ghosts eyed each other. Obi-Wan looked like he'd been dropped out at about thirty or so. His beard wasn't the scrubby little goatee of the younger man's recollection, and there was no hint of gray in it. 

"Still not going to tell me your contact?" The (now) young man wheedled.

"No," replied Obi-Wan with an amused grin. "You'll find out soon enough."

They started off to look for some food.

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"Okay, so there's supposed to be a bunch of Jedi just sort of wandering around back from the dead," said Mara the next morning. "Did Kenobi tell you how to actually _find_ them?"

Luke frowned. "Well, no, but there's gotta be a way. I mean, he said this has happened before, so they must have figured it out somehow."

Mara grumped, "It would have been nice if he could have told you."

Luke nodded, "True, true."

Mara frowned. "I've got a bad feeling."

Luke shook his head. "Don't say that. Please don't say that. Every time someone says that, something reeeeeeeeally bad happens."

Up ahead, they heard shouts. They'd been walking around, trying to sense any powerful Force users nearby, when they saw some guy who seemed to be trying to kidnap a little kid.

"Hey, stop!" Luke shouted, running towards them.

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Obi-Wan saw them first. "Hey, looks like there's trouble! That man up there's trying to stuff that boy into a van."

He and his friend set off at a run.

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**__**

CRASH!!!!!!!! 

The collision of the four Jedi also served to knock the would-be kidnapper down and allow the boy to escape. The man, believing their act to be intentional, set off at a run. 

The four stared at each other. Luke shook his head, trying to clear it. 

Then, simultaneously, they all gasped, "Who are _YOU_?"

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Mara frowned at the two Jedi she and Luke had run into. One of them looked like a fairly dignified fellow in his mid-thirties, with dark auburn hair and longish goatee. The other… the other looked like a much taller version of Luke. A much _younger_, taller version of Luke. As in, maybe twenty. 

"Obi-Wan?" Luke exclaimed quietly.

"I'm sorry, Luke," the older of the two said in a rich, elegant voice. "I didn't know about this particular… aspect of the phenomenon when I warned you. Apparently, age is as variable as location. That's the best my friend here," he nodded towards the younger one, "and myself have been able to figure out."

"And your friend here would be…" Luke prompted, though Mara, touching his mind, sensed a definite suspicion in his mind.

The blond man smiled softly, and chuckled, a sound that put Mara in mind of a spring thunderstorm on Yavin IV. "I'd have thought you'd recognize me. My name," the man said in a rumbling baritone, "is Anakin Skywalker."

There was dead silence for five seconds.

"Why do I get the feeling," Luke asked, "that somewhere, some cosmic power is laughing its head off?"

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Qui-gon looked around where he'd fallen and grimaced. Everything seemed so much taller than he remembered…

Wait a minute, how old was he? He tried to find some mildly reflective surface, settled on a puddle, and grimaced. 

Wonderful. He looked like he was about ten. Scrub-brush hair, braid, and all. Great. The return of Padawan Jinn. 

He reached out in the Force, looking for a familiar presence.

He found one.

"Aw, Sith."

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Yoda smiled happily as he sensed his padawan, and his padawan's age. "Good, this is. My padawan, short enough to hit is he. Annoying, it was, able to reach past his knees I was not. Able I am now."

He grinned even wider, and his ears perked up, as he started to walk and realized he felt much younger and healthier than he had in a while. "Excellent, this is! Young and healthy am I. Like I only age four hundred, I feel!"

He hefted the gimer stick that had accompanied him from the Realm of Spirit. "Hit many more people, I will be able to. Happy, I am."

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Luke looked around at everybody. "Okay," he said, still struggling to assimilate the idea that this twenty-year-old was his father, "what's the plan? Do we head right back to my apartment and find you two some regular clothing and maybe some food or do we look for more Jedi before calling it a day?"

Anakin shrugged. "I'm fine either way," he said. "Food isn't an unwelcome concept, but I'd feel bad if there were a bunch of others stuck out in the middle of lower-level Coruscant with no money, no ID, nothing but a weapon that'll identify them as Jedi the minute they haul them out."

Obi-Wan said, "I say we keep looking."

Mara shrugged. "I think we should keep looking a little bit more before we call it a day. Surely the four of us will be able to use the Force to help look?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "That's true."

Luke looked around again, because he liked doing that sort of thing. "Okay, so it's a group consensus we keep looking. Shall we give it, say, another four hours then head back to the ranch?"

"Depends," grunted Obi-Wan.

Mara frowned. "Depends on what?"

"Depends on if we're stopping to eat. I can't speak for Anakin," Obi-Wan nodded towards the tall young man, "but I'm famished."

" I wouldn't say no to food," replied Anakin, "but I thought Jedi should be able to ignore the demands of the physical body." He shot Obi-Wan an amused glance.

"Touché," replied Kenobi.

"Okay," said Mara. "We'll keep an eye out for food as well as wayward Jedi. I don't suppose you two sensed any others."

"I haven't looked for anyone, and the probability is that there won't be too many nearby, simply because there's so much space to scatter them in, but I wasn't around the last time this happened, so I wouldn't really know," replied Obi-Wan.

"Don't look at me," Anakin said as Mara turned to him. "I've spent even less time in the Realm of Spirit socializing than Obi-Wan here has. I knew this happened—it's one of the first things the older ghosts warn the newbies about, but I didn't know much more than that it happened. He knew about the random scattering, and more about the other times it's happened."

"But you didn't know the age thing," put in Luke.

"No, I didn't know about that," conceded Obi-Wan. "But Anakin's right that I know more about it than he does."

No one knew quite what to say about that, so they walked in silence for a few minutes. Then Obi-Wan said, "I think I sense… someone to the southeast."

"Two someones," Luke put in. "One of them's Yoda."

Obi-Wan and Anakin both groaned. "Be ready for plenty of bruises," warned Kenobi. "He was pretty easy on you on Dagobah, Luke, but I have a feeling that stick of his is going to be very active."

"Just as long as he doesn't give me another concussion," Anakin said.

Mara looked interested. "There's a good story behind this one, it sounds like," she said.

Obi-Wan grinned. "Good story, it depends on who you ask. I think it's quite a funny story, so does Yoda, but I believe Anakin here begs to differ."

"Darn right I do," growled Anakin. "It was during one of his lessons on the prophecies. Seeing as how I think most of them are a bunch of made-up poodoo, I was sort of drifting off in his class. My danger sense told me that he was standing over me looking mad, but it failed to warn me of his descending stick before said stick encountered my ascending head. Boom, I'm in the healers with a concussion."

Obi-Wan snickered. "That's what you get for sleeping in one of his classes."

"Well excuse me, but the prophecies are really boring anyhow," retorted Anakin. "I really can't care too much if some half-insane bozo prophesied the destruction of some little nation-state that was already halfway sunk three thousand years ago. History is useful," he continued, "but the prophecies are really weird, and trying to listen to a lesson on some prediction made in iambic pentameter recited in Yoda-grammar is a quick way to get a headache. And a good cure for insomnia."

"Who's the other one?" Luke asked. "Do either of you recognize him?"

Anakin shook his head, but Obi-Wan said, "Hey, neat! It's my old master, Qui-gon."

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Five more minutes, and two more members joined their party. Obi-Wan was… dismayed, to say the least, at his master's new age, but Anakin was of the opinion that being young again was good for anyone.

"That's true," Qui-gon said when that opinion was expressed. "But isn't this overdoing it just a little?"

Anakin shrugged. "No, but seeing as how I'm not stuck at that age, I can't really make a judgment call."

A shrug was his only reply.

"What now will we do?" asked Yoda. "Hungry, I am."

Mara asked, "Is this like typical of suddenly-reappeared Jedi ghosts? Hunger?"

The returned-Jedi contingent all looked at one another and shrugged. "Don't know," Qui-gon said. "None of us have been through this before."

"Well, been through it I have, from the standpoint of the living," said Yoda. 

"That's useful," Luke said. "We have at least one person who knows what's going on then."

"Eat, where shall we?" Yoda asked.

"I've got some ration bars," Mara offered.

Luke groaned. "No! No ration bars!"

"Amen!" said Kenobi. "I'd like Corellian."

"Corellian's nasty," said Anakin. "I'd go for Tatooinian."

"No! Fried chuba we will –not- eat!" exclaimed Yoda.

Luke said, "I second the vote for Tatooinian."

Qui-gon said, "I vote for Alderaanian."

"Swamp stew, we should have. Good for Jedi it is." Yoda remarked. 

"NO!" Exclaimed Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke in unison.

"I'd like to keep my taste buds in working order," said Anakin, "because I just got them back and if I start abusing them now, they'll mutiny."

Luke and Qui-gon laughed. Obi-Wan's mouth twisted in a grin. 

Luke turned to Mara. "Be very, very thankful," he told her, "that you have never had the misfortune to sample swamp stew."

Yoda frowned at everyone. "A good Jedi exercise, it is, eating swamp stew. Yes, good Jedi exercise."

Anakin threw up his hands. "And people wonder why I quit. Imperial ration bars taste better. No taste is better than bad taste."

Everyone got sort of quiet. They'd all been avoiding mention of Anakin's past, or his relation to Luke. The silence continued for a while, uncomfortably, as they walked on.

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They'd found no one, and finally called it a day. Food hadn't been decided upon, much to everyone's dismay, and Mara said it served them all right for not compromising. It was decided by group consensus that the four ex-ghosts would stay for another week, helping Luke and Mara look for others, then they'd go to the Jedi praxeum on Yavin, since the Skywalker apartment wasn't really big enough for all of them. 

Mara woke up around midnight, wondering what had awakened her. She reached for Luke, and discovered he wasn't there. She paused for a second, stretching out through the Force, searching for her husband's presence. 

A second later she was reassured. He was out on the balcony, looking out towards the Manari Mountains. She slipped quietly out of bed, intending to go over to him, but stopped when she heard voices on the balcony.

"What was my mother like?" Luke was saying softly.

The reply was in Anakin Skywalker's deep baritone. "She was… very beautiful. She had dark brown hair and eyes; her face was very elegant. She wasn't tall—a bit shorter than you are—but somehow, she was regal enough that she could tower over anyone when she needed to. Her name… be warned, it's very long. Padmé Amidala Naberrie Skywalker."

She slipped back off to bed quietly, feeling very glad that Luke was able to spend time with the father he had barely known.

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	2. Keep 'Em Coming!

The next day, over breakfast, Obi-Wan voiced what seemed to be a very intelligent suggestion

The next day, over breakfast, Obi-Wan voiced what seemed to be a very intelligent suggestion. 

"Rather than all traveling in one big group," he suggested, "why don't we split up into, say, pairs, and spread out? That way we can cover more area."

Anakin nodded. "Sounds good to me. Who goes with whom?"

Luke said thoughtfully, "Well, first of all, should we go in twos or threes? It seems to me that threes might be a better idea, in case on person gets hurt. That way there'd be one to help and one to keep a lookout. We found you four in a pretty bad part of Coruscant, and if we're spending all day down there, the larger the group the better."

Qui-gon nodded. "Groups of three sound good. We should also have multiple means of communication."

"Meaning…?" Luke asked.

"Mean, he does, that if attacked one group is, have time to use a comlink they may not. Useful, it would be, if one member mentally could communicate with a member of the other group."

Anakin tilted his head to one side. "Okay, got that. I repeat: who goes with whom?"

Obi-Wan glanced around and shrugged. "I don't know. If we're going by means of communication…"

Yoda said, "In one group, the Skywalkers should be. In the other, should be Obi-Wan, Qui-gon and myself."

Anakin said, "That's probably not the best setup for communication, though."

"Less important, communication is. More important, is who works well with whom. In that regard, setup I have suggested is best."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

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"So how exactly are we supposed to identify the minds of drop ins from those of ordinary people?" Luke asked his father as they were setting out.

"There's a minor difference in the sense of a mind when it's been in close contact with the Realm of Spirit for a long time. A drop in would be able to identify another one easily, and I think if you looked hard enough you'd see it, too."

"But I don't know what to look for."

Anakin sighed. "Okay, then. Try it on me." He felt his son's probe reach out and touch his mind gently. "Don't push inward, push along the surface. You see the difference?"

Luke nodded. "Got it. There's sort of a… I don't know, sort of a glow combined with texture."

"Right. That's the sense of someone who's been heavily connected with the Realm of Spirit. Usually, that means a dead person. Sometimes, maybe not, but a living person with that sense is rare, and pretty much always either a trained Jedi, or a drop in like this case. Which reminds me. Not everyone we find will be trained. The only criterion for admission to the Realm is power, not training or connection, just the possession of power. It's not a big thing, just something to keep in mind."

Luke shrugged. "Okay."

Mara said, "Let's get started."

"Oh, one other warning: that also means that those who get dumped out, well, let's just say we might not want to leave them dumped out."

Luke frowned. "You mean…"

Anakin nodded. "Sith."

Mara grimaced. "Wonderful."

Anakin treated her to a twisted grin. "Isn't it, though?"

"No."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, each lost in thought, and each keeping a mental 'eye' out for any minds from the Realm of Spirit.

Mara glanced over at Anakin, after a few moments. "I have to ask," she said softly. "Did you know my parents?"

Anakin looked somewhat surprised at the question. "Yes, I did."

"What were they like?"

He frowned for a moment, thinking. "I didn't know your mother that well," he confessed. "Miriana and I had one class together, self-defense. She was… I guess maybe three or four centimeters shorter than you are, and she had red hair, darker than yours; it was that really intense dark red color that you almost never see naturally. She was nice, sometimes, but she was not the friendliest person I ever met. Domion, though…" Anakin grinned broadly. "Domion Jade and I were best friends. We met each other in a piloting class, when we were thirteen. Domi was slightly taller than Luke is, and he had light hair, and the brightest green eyes I think I've ever seen. They both had them. Domi was nearly as good a pilot as I, which means he was a darn sight better than most, and he had an amazing sense of humor. We, ah, were known as the Triple-T."

Mara and Luke both shot him confused looks.

"That means Terrible Temple Teenagers," Anakin explained with a sigh. "We were pranksters. Any prank that could possibly be pulled, we pulled." He grinned. "He was the main idea guy, because he had no fear whatsoever about getting caught. His master was probably the most forgiving person in the galaxy. Except for that one time…"

"What one time?" Luke asked eagerly.

"The fifteenth-anniversary cantina crawl," Anakin replied. "It's kind of a long story. You see, every year the healers at the temple would have a fundraiser for medical equipment. About five years or so before I came to the Jedi Temple, the fundraiser was in the form of a sponsored Cantina-Crawl. Everyone had a sort of good time (there were a couple who got arrested, though) and they decided that fifteen years after the first one, they were going to do another. Domion and I had a great time playing pranks; though we never managed to top Windu's Tattoo from the original Crawl."

"What was Domion's master not forgiving about?"

"The Yenera extract," Anakin said. "You see, in the first Crawl one of the padawans had put Yenera in his least-favorite-person's glass, which then somehow got spread around to everyone. We decided to try and get that to happen again. Master Bliance had a habit of half-finishing drinks then giving them to someone else, so we put a double dose in his glass, hoping for that to happen. How were we to know that'd be the one glass he'd decide to finish?"

Mara snickered appreciatively, and Luke looked shocked. "What happened?"

Anakin chuckled. "What do you expect? He got crazy for the evening, then when he found out, he chased us all over the Temple. Everyone was laughing about that one for days."

"I can imagine."

"We thought it was pretty funny. Of course, he got it on holo, so the entire crawl was preserved for posterity…"

"Where's the chip?" Mara sounded eager. "I want to see this!"

Anakin shrugged. "I don't know. It actually was his and Miriana's holorecorder, and I don't know what he did with the chip. He made a couple copies, and sold them in the Temple (they sold for very high prices, mind. Everyone wanted to see us get drunk.). He told me he hid a copy on the Temple grounds for posterity, but chances are it's lost forever now."

Mara looked decidedly disappointed. 

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"Owwwww!" howled Qui-gon.

Yoda brandished his stick. "Deserved that, you did. Next time, step on my foot you should not."

"You're not helping, Obi-Wan." Qui-gon glared at his former padawan, who was laughing.

"I'm sorry, Qui-gon," Obi-wan said between chuckles, "but this is surreal."

"You're telling me," grumbled the ten-year-old master.

Yoda just sighed, watching them.

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A figure dressed in voluminous black robes materialized in an alley. He grimaced at the rodents in the corner, and the animals trembled with a fear they did not understand, then fled. Two hands extended an oddly long lightsaber handle, solid beams of red light sprang out both ends, and he spun the lightsaber above his head while light the color of dried blood illuminated a tattooed face topped by a crown of horns.

Darth Maul was out for blood.

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"We haven't sensed anyone all day," grumbled Obi-Wan. "Tramping the streets doesn't seem to be doing much good."

He started to say more, but was silenced by a threatening wave of Yoda's stick. "Complain, you should not, Obi-Wan," the little green troll said grouchily. "Complain, you have, all day. Getting sick of it, I am."

"You're not the only one," grumbled Qui-gon. "I wish you'd shut up for a while, Padawan."

"I'm not a padawan anymore!" Exclaimed an extremely disgruntled Obi. "I've been knighted for quite a while now, I've had students of my own—"

"—One of which turned out to be a mass-murderer and the other trained more by Yoda than by you!" Qui-gon snapped. It wasn't his nature, but he was tired, and being trapped in a ten-year-old's body was making him irritable. 

Obi-Wan's hurt was immediately evident. He frowned at the ground, and his shoulders slumped.

"Force, Obi-Wan, I didn't mean it like that!" Qui-gon exclaimed. "I'm sorry."

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"I think we need to find a new searching strategy today," Anakin announced at breakfast the next day. "I've got blisters that won't quit, and I'm not the only one."

"Hear, hear!" Obi-Wan stated emphatically. "My feet hurt. What do you have in mind, Anakin?"

"I'd say we start here, and work together in a power group to search for anyone who might be out. We contact them, Forcewise, and tell them to meet us somewhere convenient. Saves us tramping around the streets all day."

"Good idea!" Mara contributed. "I don't have blisters yet, but my feet hurt."

After eating, and clearing away the breakfast dishes, everyone sat in a circle. They didn't hold hands, or anything like that, but reached out in the Force for the presences of the people next to them. They formed a circle through the Force, of minds linked to minds linked to minds. Yoda started a surge of power and sent it to Qui-gon, who sent it to Obi-Wan, who sent it to Anakin, who sent it to Luke, who sent it to Mara, who sent it back to Yoda. They kept the surge traveling faster and faster around the circle until it was hard to say who had it, then sent it spinning outward, searching the surrounding city for Force-sensitives. It was a simple message: _Are you there?_

At first, nothing. Merely the quiet points of ordinary minds, none of them creating the unique swell in the Force of a possible Jedi, none with the unique texture of a once-dead Jedi. 

Then, suddenly, //Who are you?_//_

//Friends,_//_ they replied. //Jedi who came out earlier, and others who are alive, looking for new drop-ins.//

//Well, you found some.//

//Names?//

//Master A'jin Bliance, Jedi Margara Mila, and Jedi Domion Jade.//

//Margara?// Exclaimed Qui-gon mentally.

//Domi?// Asked Anakin.

//Hi Qui,// Margara said hesitantly.

//Well if it isn't Anakin Skywalker, by the Force I figured you'd end up out here!// The quick, pleasant voice of Jedi Domion Jade echoed in everyone's mind. //Wherever the center of action is, that's where you are. Has Miriana come out?//

//Not yet, that I know of, but the whole thing started the day before yesterday, and according to the great and mighty Master Yoda will keep up for weeks, if not longer. There's plenty of time yet for her to get here.//

//I hate to interrupt this old friends' reunion,// Obi-Wan's mental tone broke in, //But we can continue it in person. Where are you all?//

//Ummm… it looks like we're near Monument Park.//

//Great. Why don't we meet up in the far West corner of Monument Park in say, half a standard hour?//

//Sounds great to us.//

//See you then.//

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Darth Maul was not having fun.

First of all, he didn't know how he'd suddenly ended up in a back alley on Coruscant. He'd been dead, he knew, for a while. He remembered vividly, killing the old Jedi, and getting killed in turn by the young one. He remembered the pain, brief but burning, as the green saber swept through his belly. He remembered fleeing his dying, falling body, his soul joining those in the Realm of Spirit. He remembered listening to the ancient Sith talk. He hadn't minded being treated as a pup—he wanted to learn all he could on how to defeat the Jedi whenever possible. He'd participated in several raids against the Jedi spirits, and had earned a name for himself as a brave fighter, and a cunning leader.

Suddenly, he was on the streets of Coruscant, with no money, no idea what was going on, and nothing but his clothes and his lightsaber.

He caressed the long hilt. A beautiful weapon, truly. He ignited the two blades again, and whirled the weapon over his head, enjoying the surge of power he felt.

Finally, common sense took over and he closed it down, returning it to his belt. He started to walk in a direction at random. He had no clue where he was going.

*Squelch *

__

Ah, shavit, thought the Sith. _All this and I have to step in cannoid droppings, too._


	3. Memories and Saber Duels (Cue Jaws Music...

Mara studied the three newest members of their party

Mara studied the three newest members of their party. Master Bliance was a tallish Amin, while the other two were human. The Amini were a humanoid species, nearly human except for elongated features and extremities, and skin cast slightly blue-greenish, with deep violet eyes. Margara Mila was a pert blonde, and appeared to have been dropped in at about the age of nine. 

As for the third member of the party Mara still couldn't believe that this personable, constantly smiling twenty-year-old was her father. She supposed part of it was the age thing, the same as Luke was having to deal with. The main cause of her difficulty, however, lay in how very nice he was. She didn't know why this made it so hard, but it did. 

When her party had first caught sight of the three, Anakin had rushed forward to greet his old friend. They'd had a joyful, back-slapping reunion, chattering constantly about various subjects. That chatter had not ceased as everyone began the long trek back to the apartment to feed the new arrivals.

Margara Mila and Qui-gon Jinn were apparently old friends, talking softly as they walked. Luke had raised an eyebrow at how close the two seemed, until Obi-Wan had noticed his confusion and explained. "She's an old flame of his. They never really broke up—she got sent on a long-term mission, and he was killed before she got back. They reunited when she arrived in the Realm of Spirit courtesy of a nasty fever. They've been pretty much inseperable ever since."

Luke nodded, still eyeing the two. It seemed so funny, just looking at them. An apparently nine-year-old girl and ten-year-old boy, conversing like adults. "This whole situation is surreal."

Obi-Wan's mouth quirked, watching Anakin and Domion still talking energetically. "It is indeed, but I'm very glad of it. It's good for all of us—especially Anakin." He turned his gaze towards Luke with a fierce intensity. "The Realm of Spirit hasn't been kind to your father. The Grand Council—the spirits of all the Jedi Council members—had him before a tribunal, and there aren't any cruel or unusual punishment laws in the Realm. His sentence was very difficult for him, and in my opinion unfair. Coming out here It's very good for him. You see, we—all of us—are still the same people we were, but the age of the bodies we've been put in influences our personality. So Anakin isn't completely the person he was when he saved you, he's also partly the twenty-year-old he looks like. He's sort of an amalgam, and the sense of youth is helping him get over his past. He's a good person, really, but he was troubled. Being twenty again—and having his best friend with him—is helping a lot."

Luke grinned. "Those two seem to be good friends."

"Oh, believe me, they are. I just hope that feeling like a kid again doesn't mean those two repeating their behavior from that age."

"I don't know. If everyone's going to be staying at the Academy, I could use a couple of pranksters. Most of my staff are way to serious."

Obi-Wan laughed. "Well, if you're looking for mood-lighteners, the Triple T will do that for you nicely. He told you about that?"

Luke nodded. "Sounds like he had a fun time as a student."

Obi-Wan nodded. "He had a hard time at first—kept sneaking out to participate in all those illegal races in the underworld. He got hauled before the Council a bunch of times for that. Then he met our friend Jade over there. That got his troublemaking focused in somewhat more legal—and safer—areas."

Domion and Anakin burst suddenly into loud guffaws. "Care to tell the rest of us the joke?" Mara asked them sardonically.

"We were just remembering the fifteenth-anniversary cantina crawl," Anakin said, "and some of the excellent pranks we played. Remember that, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan grinned. "I sure do. Remember the game of Hail Valorum' we played?"

Domion asked, "You mean the one where Anakin made a point of losing for ten rounds?"

A nod. "Yes,"

"Do tell," said Mara.

"Well," said Obi-Wan, "This game started in the original cantina-crawl, and Qui-gon," he nodded towards his master, who was still engrossed in conversation with Margara, "got completely wasted. The idea was that you had to toast the Supreme Chancellor. At that point in time, it was Valorum. You had to stand up with a shot of Corellian, toast, and say, To Valorum. May he be honest and wise and cover his lies, Hail Valorum!'. Then you had to sit down, stand up, turn around, sit down, bang your glass on the table twice with your right hand, stomp once with your left foot, bang your left fist on the table once, stomp twice with your right foot. Then you had to stand up, put your right hand over your heart, and say, Valorum, Gods bless him.' If you did it right, you got to knock back the whiskey and watch. If you screwed up, you had to drink the whiskey and do it again."

Anakin grinned at that. "When we played it at the fifteenth-anniversary crawl, Valorum wasn't Chancellor anymore, Palpatine was, but we decided that we'd stick with Valorum because his name had the proper emphasis. We needed a name with three syllables and the emphasis on the second syllable. So we decided that since the thing never mentions Supreme Chancellor,' that it wasn't breaking any rules. So we were using good Corellian whiskey—"

"I want to tell this part," Domion interrupted. "So anyway, Anakin the brilliant person here screws up his very first time trying—on purpose. Then his second time, third time, et cetera. By the time he got to his ninth shot, he looked like he was barely keeping himself off the floor, and he could barely talk. Then, all of a sudden, he does it perfectly, and so fast we could barely follow him. We all thought he been faking being drunk. But then he turns to Obi-Wan, and tilts his head to one side, sorta like this," Domion tilted his head way over to the right and closed one eye, "and he says, with a lisp, Mathster, why did you turn thartreuthe? I liked your other color better.' Then he passed out cold on the floor."

Everyone laughed, including Anakin. "Hey, okay, so when I get drunk I go colorblind. Big deal."

More laughter. "Remember the other time?" Obi-Wan asked. "The time I was going to propose to Anani?"

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Anakin. "I almost forgot!" He glanced again at Luke and Mara. This was being told mostly for them. "Obi-Wan and Anani Simis spent how long was it? They spent at least twelve years dating before he finally got up the courage to pop the question. So when he was finally ready to, he wanted to make it a big thing. So he asked Domi here and my good self to help."

"That was my big mistake," grumbled Obi-Wan.

"Don't knock it," Anakin said. "You asked the most brilliant planners in the temple. Anyhow, we saved up and managed to scrape together enough dough so that Obi-Wan could treat his girl to a night at a very exclusive restaurant."

"Then we enlisted a bunch of their friends to help. All during the meal, they'd walk by, disguising themselves, and whisper in her ear, Marry Obi-Wan.' How many people did we have doing that, Anakin?" Added Domion.

"Lesse, there were the two of us, Miriana, Padmé, uhm, Bant wanted in on the fun, so did Amilia" Anakin trailed off, counting on his fingers. "Must have been ten at least."

"So at the end of the meal," Obi-Wan took up the thread of discussion, "Anani leaned forward and said, all these people want me to marry you, Obi.' So I said I did too, and then these jokers," he nodded towards the two blond twenty-year-olds, "stood up behind me holding a sign that said, SAY YES' in big pink letters.

"With hearts all over it."

Luke grinned. "So did she?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "What do you think?"

Behind Obi-Wan's back, Anakin and Domion were nodding as big as they could.

"Oh," Luke said, "She had to have said yes."

Obi-Wan just smiled very, very broadly.

"And just to think," Domion told him, "you have us to thank for it."

"That I do, that I do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darth Maul stared at his face in the men's fresher at the fast-food joint. He couldn't believe his eyes. He just couldn't believe it. 

He ran through everything that had happened since he arrived here. He'd stepped in cannoid droppings right away, then some hoodlum on a swoop had kicked up a spray of mud turning a corner, and soaked him. And now this.

He stared at his reflection; he couldn't believe his eyes. Below the crown of horns, under the red-and-black tattoos, his face was that of a teenager. A _teenager!_

What humiliation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, who's up for some saber practice?" Anakin asked that evening. "There was, last I recall, a facility near here that provided room suited for dueling. They still there?"

Luke nodded, and Mara said, "Oh yeah, Luke and I are regulars there. Everyone knows us, they've got a room they call the Skywalker room' since we're always in there."

Laughter broke out. "Rather like the Kenobi ward at the Temple Healers?" asked Qui-gon with a wink at his former padawan.

Obi-Wan flushed. "So I got a little hurt every now and then!" he exclaimed defensively.

Qui-gon snickered. "Every now and then? Remember how you were after the first Cantina Crawl?"

Kenobi ground his teeth audibly. 

Anakin sighed and spoke up in his defense. "Uhm, we're getting a little off topic here, everyone. I asked if we could do some saber practice, not snipe at each other."

"Saber practice sounds great to me," Domion said. "I can't remember how long it's been since I got to do that."

"Far too long," A'jin replied. "I want to see how much you've forgotten, Padawan."

"So who all is coming?" asked Luke.

"I'm coming," said Domion.

"Me too!" exclaimed Anakin.

"Don't forget me!" added Obi-Wan.

"I'd like to," Qui-gon said, "but I'd rather stay here. I don't think I'd be very good at lightsabering in this body."

"He just wants to stay here with Margara," Anakin stage-whispered to Domion, who snickered.

Mara hooked her saber onto her belt. "Let's get going."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the walk down, they'd broken into little groups. Luke was talking with Obi-Wan and A'jin about training, a conversation Mara was not at all interested in. Anakin was just walking quietly, watching everywhere. Hesitantly, Mara moved closer to her father. She didn't know what to say, how to start a conversation. 

He took the burden away from her. Glancing at her, his emerald eyes studying her features quickly, he said, "You look like your mother."

Mara tilted her head. "What was she like?" She'd heard some from Anakin, but she wanted to hear it from her father.

He sighed. "Beautiful. Deadly. The light of my life." He laughed, a brief, quick bark. "Everyone was amazed when Miriana and I were married. They thought we'd be strangling each other within hours."

Mara had to bite back a giggle at that one. He looked at her inquisitively. "Oh," she explained. "I'm not laughing at you. It's just that that's what everyone said when Luke and I announced our engagement. They figured we'd kill each other."

Domion laughed, too. "Thankfully, A'jin and Miriana's master, Ciaomi Mi'rek, were are good friends. It made it a lot easier for us to find excuses to get together often." He trailed off, unsure of what to say. "I wish you could meet her."

Mara smiled. "If this thing with everyone coming back keeps up, I just might get to."

Domion smiled at that, and said, "I hope so." Both lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The saber room turned out to be big enough for everyone to practice. A'jin made the suggestion that they should switch off who they were dueling against, so that each person would be going up against different styles. This made sense to everyone, so they started out: Anakin vs. Domion, Obi-Wan vs. A'jin, and Luke vs. Mara. 

Anakin spun to the right, and Domion countered with an indirect thrust to Anakin's right, to prevent him from spinning behind him. Anakin swatted Domion's blade and ducked beneath it, again to the right. Domion started to move in expectation of a spin following his arm, by letting go of his saber with his right hand, gripping it only with his left. Anakin seized Domion's left arm at the elbow and pushed it back, ducking. Domion swung at his friend's head, but Anakin's blade zipped in and touched Domion's tunic, on the left side, over his heart. "A burn to mark the strike," Anakin murmured as his blade scorched the cloth, leaving skin untouched, so precise was his control of the blade. Thrust, parry, riposte, feint, they moved all over the room, completely oblivious to their wide-eyed audience. But it was obvious that despite the skill of both opponents, the fight was one-sided. Soon, Domion's tunic bore a half dozen tiny black marks, each spot where Anakin's blade had touched in imitation of a killing thrust. Anakin's tunic was spotless.

Finally, they both stopped, closed down their sabers, and bowed, breathing heavily. Domion looked down at his tunic, then at Anakin's, and frowned. "I didn't get through your defense even once? Damn, I thought getting all those pointers from Miriana would've at least given me a fighting chance."

"The trick," Anakin said, "is to concentrate first on not getting marked. Marking your opponent is a second priority. I could have gotten you more times, but you would have gotten me some. If you'd concentrated on not getting hit, then you wouldn't have gotten a single mark. And you might possibly have gotten me a couple times."

"Hmph," Domion snorted. "I know better than that. No one can get through your defense, Skywalker. I don't think I've seen a single person do it since your knighthood tests."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. You plan to chatter all day, or do we do some more saber practice? I think it's about time for a change of opponents."

He glanced towards the others. Obi-Wan was grinning proudly; he deserved to, for he'd trained Anakin in the art of the saber. A'jin looked like he was going to give his student a little lecture on better saber-method. Mara's jaw was slightly open, but when he met his son's eyes, he saw no amazement, just cool observation. 

"Well?" asked A'jin. "Who's going against whom next?"

Domion shrugged eloquently. "I don't care so much. I think the intent is possibly to have everyone go against everyone."

"That'd be a long day," Luke pointed out.

"Good endurance training," Anakin replied.

"If we're going to be drop-in hunting tomorrow, we won't want to tire ourselves out," Mara added.

"We don't have to go against everyone all in one day," Obi-Wan said. "We could do say two duels today, then the rest tomorrow or some other time."

A'jin replied, "That seems to be the most logical solution. One more duel for today, then finish up tomorrow. Maybe there'll be some fresh drop ins, too."

Anakin shrugged. "Could be."

They all looked around at each other. "Okay, who goes against whom next?"

|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|

Darth Nacht studied the door to the exercise facility the Jedi had entered an hour ago. 

"They'll have to come out soon," Maul muttered, standing slightly behind him. 

Nacht chuckled. "Patience, young Sith. It is a Jedi virtue, true, but a useful one nonetheless. Nothing is gained by impatience, and much may be lost. Just wait."

So they waited, watching for six exhausted and worn-down Jedi to walk into their ambush.

|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|^|

A'jin's orange blade crossed Domion's green one. "Come now, Domion, you're better than that," he said coaxingly. "I've seen you do much better before."

Domion frowned and tried a low cut. "I wasn't already exhausted from fighting Jedi Unbeatable over there," he said, jerking his head towards Anakin. Then Domion turned and stared at his friend, wide-eyed.

To Domion's left, his daughter's blue blade impacted Obi-wan's similarly hued saber. Her eyes were half-closed, watching the bearded Jedi's every move, waiting for him to slip up. Obi-Wan thought, [i]It must be part of how she fights. That stare is unnerving. I'm making mistakes.[/i] Mara moved to glance towards her husband, then stopped, staring at Luke.

Green blade intersected blue as Luke and Anakin fought. Sweat dripped down both faces, two pairs of blue eyes narrowed in concentration, two figures moving over most of the practice room as they fought. 

Luke found his father's style familiar, but yet far different from what he'd encountered in Cloud City or on Endor. More freedom of movement, more speed, more flexibility, and new youth made Anakin Skywalker a fearsome opponent. 

Anakin felt as though he was at a disadvantage, though. Luke's style was honed, elegant, and yet wasted no moves. So different from Anakin's hack-and-slash. The blade was and extension of Luke's arm, and he treated it like a fencing foil. Anakin treated his blade like a cudgel. Both had little use for extraneous movement, preferring to conserve energy and feint as little as possible. But despite that, their fight was something to watch as they moved around the room, Anakin yielding ground at first, then ducking around his son and pressing Luke back towards their starting point. 

Mara's mouth hung open. She'd never seen anything like this, ever. Neither, for that matter, had Obi-Wan, Domion, or A'jin. All four had stopped to watch this epic battle. "Bright Force," mumbled Obi-Wan. "This is amazing."

Finally, Anakin's blade struck just right, and Luke's saber went flying. But Luke held on just long enough that Anakin got sloppy, and the blue blade flew with the green. They stopped moving, stared at each other for a second, then bowed to each other, both breathing heavily, sweat running down their faces and arms. There were five black marks on Anakin's tunic, and four on Luke's. They seemed oblivious to the rest of the room until everyone started applauding. 

"Good job, Luke," Anakin said with a broad grin. "You're amazing."

"You're not half bad yourself," Luke replied. "How'd you learn to be so good?"

"How'd you?" his father cocked an eyebrow. "You had less training than I did, and you're the best fighter I've ever seen."

"Jedi School of Hard Knocks," Luke said with a grin. "The best way to get good fast."

Anakin shrugged. "Can't argue with that."

Domion was staring at Anakin's tunic, wide-eyed. "I don't believe it," he said to Luke. "You got through Mr. Untouchable's defense _five times_! No one's been able to do that since he was a kid!"

Luke shrugged modestly. "I see an opening, I take it. I don't think about getting through or anything. I focus on the moment."

Anakin grinned. "Good philosophy."

"I think we ought to get going now," Mara said. "It's getting late."

"Good idea," A'jin replied.

|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|

Darth Nacht tensed as he sensed the six Force-sensitive minds heading towards him. "They're coming," he murmured to Maul. "They'll be out any second now."


	4. Dum Da Dum Dum!

[A/N: sorry about the fight scene

[A/N: sorry about the fight scene.The numbers just didn't work]

Anakin held up a hand just before they walked through the door."Wait."

Domion frowned at him."Wait for what?"

"Stretch out," Anakin said."Who do you sense out there?"

"A few passerby," Luke said, "A couple….wait.Two minds saturated with the dark side."

"That's right," Anakin said, "and they also have the mind-texture of drop ins."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

"Wait," hissed Nacht, "you see that building over there to the right?"

Maul nodded."Yes."

"Let's climb it.If we leap down from there, we can take out one or two more quickly and even the odds a bit."

Maul nodded silently.They leaped quickly to the to the top of the one-story building, and crouched at the edge, waiting.

They did not have to wait long.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The six Jedi exited the gym, sticking together in a tight group.

"Keep an eye out," Anakin murmured."They might atta—"

Before he could finish, the two Sith dropped down from above, instantly lashing out.Domion caught a kick to the jaw and fell backwards, only half-conscious.Maul's foot impacted Obi-Wan's stomach hard, knocking the wind out of him.Anakin and Luke attacked Nacht, who was hard-pressed to stay ahead of two sabers.Mara and A'jin were fighting Maul, who was having a bit of trouble.Sadly, teenage clumsiness had accompanied his reemergence, and soon enough he was disarmed.Mara started to move forward to help her husband, but before she could, Maul slid forward, and kicked at her, abandoning the saber and using some impressive hand-to-hand combat moves.Mara blocked his foot with an arm, then grabbed his leg and twisted.He allowed himself to be flipped onto the ground, then scythed his other leg at her ankles, trying to take her down.She simply kicked back, her toe catching his instep painfully.He winced, glancing toward Nacht for support.He wasn't going to get any.Darth Nacht was having problems of his own, trying to deal with multiple Skywalkers.Finally, Nacht had to admit defeat.

He glanced at Maul, then used the Force to boost himself into a high leap.He landed a few meters away, then ran.Maul followed him.

Anakin sighed, glancing at Luke."Good job," he said with a grin.Luke nodded, smiled, and glanced towards Mara and A'jin, who were crouching beside the half-conscious Domion."Is he going to be all right?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah," said Mara."He just got kicked in the face a little too hard, but there's no permanent damage."

Domion shook his head slightly, trying to clear it."Kinda screwed up, didn't I?" he asked.

"Hey, no prob," Anakin told him."They're gone, we're heading home.Guess we shouldn't have worked so hard during practice."

Luke shrugged."We had no way of knowing this would happen."

"Who were they?" asked Mara.

"Sith, obviously," replied Obi-Wan."The tattooed one was around when I was an apprentice, but I don't know his name."

"Maul," Anakin said."His name is Darth Maul.He was an apprentice of Palpatine's."Unspoken was the comment _before me."The other one, he's an old Sith Lord, from a millennium or so ago, named Darth Nacht.He's considered one of the famous ones, which is a pretty bad thing for us.He's the closest to respected a Sith can get."_

A'jin frowned."Rather than standing here discussing this, why don't we get back to the apartment and maybe get some sleep?"

"Hey," Domion said, "why would we want to do that?I was having fun out here getting bit by insects."

They started to walk back, sticking close together and not talking much.

+_+_+_+_+_+

When they arrived, Yoda was busy in the kitchen making swamp stew for the returning Jedi (cue groaning).Qui-gon was on the balcony, studying the Coruscant skyline.Margara was already asleep, as it was late.He entered the living room as Anakin collapsed into a chair.Luke and Mara sank onto the sofa, and Domion, Obi-Wan, and A'jin took up places around the room."What happened?" Qui-gon asked."You all look like you've been fighting in a war!"

Anakin gave him a wry look."Well, that's sorta what we've been doing," he said.He related the tale of the fight outside the gym, and Qui-gon made a face.

"I'd hoped no Sith would bother us out here," he commented.

Domion snorted."We should be so lucky."

Obi-Wan said with a barely repressed grin, "In my experience there's no such thing as luck."

"Yeah," said Anakin, "that's because you've never had any."

Obi-Wan sniffed."Hmph.You should talk."

"Well," Anakin replied, "I've had more than you."

"Prove it."

"Oh, uhm, how about that race I won on Tatooine, the one that ensured you'd get home?I'd say that was pretty good."

"That was skill, not luck."

Anakin laughed."Well, I suppose I should take that as a compliment.How about that time on the crawl that I nearly got gooshed by some tough in a bar but didn't because he tripped?"

"Nope, because it was you who tripped him."

Everyone else was listening to the banter, laughing.

"Sounds pretty exciting," Mara commented."Didn't know humans could podrace."

"Most can't," replied Anakin with a grin."I can."

"And you're not exactly shy about letting everyone know," Domion chimed in.

"Are you saying I boast?" Anakin sounded offended, but his eyes were sparkling with restrained laughter.

"You?Boast?"Domion snickered."I have never heard Anakin Skywalker boast."

A'jin replied."Maybe once or twice."

Domion grinned."When he deserved to."

"When it seemed convenient."

"24/7"

Amid general laughter, Anakin held up his hands."Okay, okay, so I like to talk about what I can do.You're not exactly humble, Mr. I'm-so-cool-I-beat-the-teacher.You've done your fair share."

"Slander!"Domion exclaimed."Foul lies!I'm the picture of innocent humility."He pressed his hands flat, palms together, and fluttered his eyes towards the sky.

Anakin snorted."Uh-huh.Right.Sure y'are.And I'm shorter than Yoda."

"Heyyyy!"Came the indignant shout from the corner."Not short am I!Vertically challenged I am, yes."

+++++++++++++++++++

They decided to head for the Jedi Academy the next day.It wasn't actually involved at all with the Sith attack; the only real reason was that Luke and Mara's Coruscant apartment was the proper size for two people, and trying to cram in nine was a bad idea.

Their arrival on Coruscant required some serious explanation, but once the Jedi students there understood the situation, they were extremely enthusiastic about the drop-ins.Tionne wanted to be able to talk to all of them, since her particular interest was history; Kam wanted to know if they'd be willing to assist with the lessons. During the trip from Coruscant to Yavin IV, Anakin had been commenting (whining, if you asked Domion or Obi-Wan) that he didn't want to go by his real name, that he was afraid the Jedi Academy would be closed or at the least frosty to him.Luke and Mara had spent the entire trip assuring him there wouldn't be any problems; Luke was quite confident of this, remembering the way Kyp had been treated after the Exar Kun episode.Anakin hadn't been so sure, but in the end he was willing to trust his son's judgment on the situation.

Luke had been right, too.Some of the newer trainees were hesitant, but the majority accepted Anakin as though he was just any person, not the ex-Sith lord.

A few days after they all arrived, Luke received a call from the planetary leader of Anomil, an Outer-Rim planet near Tatooine.The leader, Milimoa Diunnach, wanted Luke and Mara to come out and talk to him about concerns he had regarding the Jedi Order.

"Now," Luke said very seriously to Anakin and Domion later that day, when he'd described the situation to them, "travel takes time between here and Anomil.Mara and I should be gone for about two weeks or so.Your mission, should you two choose to accept it, is to make the ultra-serious and no-sense-of-humor staff of the Jedi Academy laugh.You are free to use any methods necessary, as long as they do not incur any permanent damage."

Anakin and Domion high-fived."All RIGHT!" Anakin exclaimed."The Triple-T is back in business!"

"Dum da dum dum," added Domion dramatically.


End file.
